Overview
- South Africa’s Constitutional Court, in a unanimous judgment on Monday, invalidated Sections 36–40 of the National Health Act that would have controlled where private health providers could operate.
- Acting Justice Kate Savage wrote that the scheme was not rationally linked to its stated goal of widening access to care and that it unjustifiably limited the right to choose a trade or profession.
- The struck‑down rules would have required state approval to open, move or expand services, with 20‑year certificates and criminal penalties for operating without one.
- The court confirmed a 2024 Pretoria High Court ruling after a challenge by Solidarity and private healthcare groups and ordered the health minister and director‑general to pay costs while declining to send the scheme back to Parliament.
- The Department of Health said no part of the NHI Act was ruled unconstitutional and noted the certificate provisions were never in force, as medical bodies warned of ongoing staff shortages, funding gaps and 1,800 unemployed junior doctors.